U.S. patent number 9,413,674 [Application Number 13/796,679] was granted by the patent office on 2016-08-09 for avoidance of unnecessary traffic in wireless communications networks.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Sprint Communications Company L.P.. The grantee listed for this patent is Sprint Communications Company L.P.. Invention is credited to Heesook Choi, Mark Evans, Kosol Jintaseranee, Emel Meteoglu.
United States Patent |
9,413,674 |
Jintaseranee , et
al. |
August 9, 2016 |
Avoidance of unnecessary traffic in wireless communications
networks
Abstract
Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for
avoiding unnecessary traffic in wireless communications networks.
An Internet gateway maintains an unnecessary traffic avoidance
table and to determine whether a mobile device is disconnected from
the network. The Internet gateway discards requested data packets
requested by the mobile devices if the mobile device is not
currently connected to the network, thereby avoiding unnecessary
traffic in the network.
Inventors: |
Jintaseranee; Kosol (Sunnyvale,
CA), Evans; Mark (San Mateo, CA), Choi; Heesook
(Foster City, CA), Meteoglu; Emel (San Mateo, CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sprint Communications Company L.P. |
Overland Park |
KS |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sprint Communications Company
L.P. (Overland Park, KS)
|
Family
ID: |
56556046 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/796,679 |
Filed: |
March 12, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L
47/14 (20130101); H04L 47/323 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04L
12/26 (20060101); H04L 12/823 (20130101); H04L
12/801 (20130101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Vu; Huy D
Assistant Examiner: Cunningham; Kevin
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. One or more computer-readable storage media having
computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when
executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to
perform a method of avoiding unnecessary traffic in a wireless
communications network, the method comprising: connecting a first
mobile device having a first Network Access Identifier (NAI) to a
wireless communications network; assigning a first Internet
Protocol (IP) address to the first mobile device; initiating a
first user session associated with the first IP address; at an
Internet gateway, receiving a request for at least one data packet
from the first mobile device; communicating the request for the at
least one data packet to a first server; receiving the at least one
data packet from the first server; maintaining an unnecessary
traffic avoidance table at the Internet gateway that includes a
mapping of, at least, the first IP address, an NAI corresponding to
a mobile device that is currently associated with the first IP
address, an open traffic flow, and an open traffic flow time stamp
associated with a request for data of the open traffic flow;
determining that the first mobile device is disconnected from the
wireless communications network if the unnecessary traffic
avoidance table indicates, based on the NAI mapped to the first IP
address, that a second mobile device is currently associated with
the first IP address; upon determining that the first mobile device
is disconnected from the wireless communications network,
discarding the at least one data packet from the Internet gateway
and terminating the first user session associated with the first IP
address; and utilizing the mapped time stamp and the mapped open
traffic flow, determining the received at least one data packet was
not requested by the second mobile device and should not be billed
to the second mobile device.
2. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1,
wherein the Internet gateway is a routing device or a bridging
device that comprises one or more of a home agent, a packet data
serving node, a serving gateway, a packet data network gateway, or
an access service network gateway.
3. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1,
wherein the unnecessary traffic avoidance table further comprises a
type of data requested by the first mobile device.
4. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1,
wherein the first mobile device is disconnected from the wireless
communications network due to one or more of losing network signal
reception, entering a roaming network, or depletion of battery of
the first mobile device.
5. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1,
further comprising initiating a second user session associated with
the first IP address.
6. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1,
wherein upon determining that the first mobile device is
disconnected from the network, further comprising updating all
previously collected data in the unnecessary traffic avoidance
table.
7. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1,
further comprising: communicating a request for at least one data
packet to a second server; and receiving the at least one data
packet from the second server.
8. One or more computer-readable storage media having
computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when
executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to
perform a method of avoiding unnecessary traffic in a wireless
communications network, the method comprising: initiating a first
user session for a first mobile device having a first Network
Access Identifier (NAI) and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address;
at an Internet gateway, receiving a plurality of data packets from
a first server and sending a portion of the plurality of data
packets to the first IP address; accessing an unnecessary traffic
avoidance table to determine if the first mobile device is
disconnected from a wireless communications network, wherein the
table includes a current NAI, a previous NAI mapped to the first IP
address, an open traffic flow, and an open traffic flow time stamp
associated with a request for data of the open traffic flow;
determining from the unnecessary traffic avoidance table that the
current NAI mapped to the first IP address is associated with a
second mobile device; based on the determination that the current
NAI mapped to the first IP address is associated with the second
mobile device, discarding a remaining portion of the plurality of
data packets not sent to the first IP address from the Internet
gateway; terminating the first user session associated with the
first IP address; utilizing the mapped open traffic flow and the
mapped open traffic flow time stamp, determining that the remaining
portion of the plurality of data packets should not be billed to
the first mobile device or to the second mobile device; and
determining the first mobile device should not be billed for any
data transfer after the first user session is terminated;
initiating a second user session for the second mobile device
having a second NAI and the first IP address; and maintaining the
unnecessary traffic avoidance table.
9. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 8,
wherein maintaining the unnecessary traffic avoidance table
comprises modifying values or deleting previously collected
data.
10. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 8,
wherein the Internet gateway is a routing device or a bridging
device that comprises one or more of a home agent, a packet data
serving node, a serving gateway, a packet data network gateway, or
an access service network gateway.
11. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 8,
wherein the unnecessary traffic avoidance table further comprises
data regarding a type of data requested and a time stamp associated
with a receipt of the at least one data packet from the first
server.
12. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 8,
wherein the first mobile device is disconnected from the network
due to losing network signal reception, entering a roaming network,
or depletion of battery.
13. A system for avoiding unnecessary traffic in a wireless
communications network, the system comprising: an Internet gateway
capable of: (1) communicating with a first mobile device to receive
a request from the first mobile device for one or more data packets
and to send the one or more data packets to the first mobile device
from one or more servers, (2) maintaining an unnecessary traffic
avoidance table that includes a mapping of, at least, a first NAI
corresponding to the first mobile device and a second NAI
corresponding to a second mobile device mapped to a first IP
address, an open traffic flow, and an open traffic flow time stamp
associated with a request for data of the open traffic flow,
wherein the first NAI is previously associated with the first IP
address and wherein the second NAI is currently associated with the
first IP address, and (3) accessing the unnecessary traffic
avoidance table to determine to discard the one or more data
packets received from the one or more servers prior to sending the
one or more data packets to the first mobile device if the first IP
address is currently associated with the second mobile device that
did not request the one or more data packets received from the one
or more servers, and determining, using the unnecessary traffic
avoidance table, that the discarded one or more data packets should
not be billed to the first mobile device or to the second mobile
device based on the first IP address being currently associated
with the second mobile device; and at least one server capable of
communicating with the Internet gateway, wherein communicating with
the Internet gateway comprises sending the one or more data packets
to the Internet gateway based upon a request for the one or more
data packets by the first mobile device.
14. The system of claim 13, further comprising the first mobile
device that previously requested the one or more data packets, but
that has been disconnected from the wireless communications network
such that the one or more data packets are not delivered to the
first mobile device.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the Internet gateway is a
routing device or bridging device that comprises one or more of a
home agent, a packet data serving node, a serving gateway, a packet
data network gateway, or an access service network gateway.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the open flow time stamp
further comprises a time associated with the request from the first
mobile device for the one or more data packets.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the open traffic flow comprises
a type of data.
Description
SUMMARY
A high-level overview of various aspects of the invention are
provided here for that reason, to provide an overview of the
disclosure and to introduce a selection of concepts that are
further described below in the detailed description section. This
summary is not intended to identify key features or essential
features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be
used as an aid in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed
subject matter.
In brief, and at a high level, this disclosure describes, among
other things, avoidance of unnecessary traffic in wireless
communications networks. In one embodiment, there are multiple
servers in communication with an Internet gateway that maintains an
unnecessary traffic avoidance table. The unnecessary traffic
avoidance table includes data regarding the current Network Access
Identifier (NAI) which designates an active mobile device currently
connected to the network and receiving requested data from one of
the servers. The Internet gateway accesses the unnecessary traffic
avoidance table to verify whether a mobile device requesting data
packets from a server is disconnected from the wireless
communications network (e.g., mobile device turned off, battery
depleted in mobile device). If the current NAI is no longer
associated with the mobile device making the data request, then it
is indicative that the mobile device making the data request has
been disconnected from the wireless communications network. Upon
determining that the mobile device making the data request is
disconnected from the wireless communications network, the Internet
gateway may discard the requested data packets and end the
associated user session. The table may then be updated with this
information.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in
detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, and
wherein:
FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a mobile device in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 depicts an operating system for carrying out embodiments of
the present invention;
FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative environment in which an embodiment
of the present invention may operate;
FIG. 4 depicts an unnecessary traffic avoidance table, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for avoiding unwanted
data packets, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention; and
FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for avoiding unwanted
data packets at an Internet gateway, in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The subject matter of the present invention is described with
specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the
description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this
patent. Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed
subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include
different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones
described in this document, in conjunction with other present or
future technologies. Moreover, although the terms "step" and/or
"block" may be used herein to connote different elements of the
methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying
any particular order among or between various steps herein
disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is
explicitly described.
Throughout the description of embodiments of the present invention,
several acronyms and shorthand notations are used to aid the
understanding of certain concepts pertaining to the associated
methods, systems, and computer-readable media. These acronyms and
shorthand notations are solely intended for the purpose of
providing an easy methodology of communicating the ideas expressed
herein and are in no way meant to limit the scope of the present
invention. The following is a list of these acronyms:
TABLE-US-00001 3G Third-Generation Wireless Technology 4G
Fourth-Generation Cellular Communication System BSC Base Station
Controller BTS Base Transceiver Station CD-ROM Compact Disk Read
Only Memory CDMA Code Division Multiple Access GPRS General Packet
Radio Service GSM Global System for Mobile communications:
originally from Groupe Special Mobile DVD Digital Versatile Discs
EEPROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory ESN
Electronic Serial Number EVDO Evolution Data Optimized LED Light
Emitting Diode LTE Long Term Evolution PC Personal Computer PCS
Personal Communications Service PDA Personal Digital Assistant RAM
Random Access Memory ROM Read Only Memory TDMA Time Division
Multiple Access UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications
Systems
Further, various technical terms are used throughout this
description. An illustrative resource that fleshes out various
aspects of these terms can be found in Newton's Telecom Dictionary,
25th Edition (2009).
Embodiments of the technology may take the form of, among other
things, a method, system, or set of instructions embodied on one or
more computer-readable media. Computer-readable media include both
volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media,
and contemplate media readable by a database, a switch, and various
other network devices. By way of example, and not limitation,
computer-readable media comprise media implemented in any method or
technology for storing information. Examples of stored information
include computer-useable instructions, data structures, program
modules, and other data representations. Media examples include,
but are not limited to, information-delivery media, RAM, ROM,
EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital
versatile discs (DVD), holographic media or other optical disc
storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage,
and other magnetic storage devices. These technologies can store
data momentarily, temporarily, or permanently.
Radio signals in wireless technologies and mobile device battery
life are both limited resources. Sending unrequested data packets
to mobile devices unnecessarily drains these limited resources.
This may occur when a first mobile device associated with an
Internet Protocol (IP) address requests data packets from a server
and then subsequently disconnects from the wireless communications
network. A second mobile device is then assigned to the same IP
address and may unnecessarily receive the data packets requested by
the first mobile device. Meanwhile, the first mobile device is
still being billed for the data packets it did not receive after
disconnecting from the wireless communications network. As a
result, the unwanted, and likely useless, data packets drain
limited radio resources, create network congestion, and reduce the
second mobile device's battery life. Ultimately, the whole episode
provides bad user experiences for users of both the first and
second mobile devices.
As mentioned, embodiments of the present invention are directed to
avoidance of unnecessary traffic in wireless communications
networks. The present invention provides a way to avoid sending
unwanted data packets to mobile devices by discarding data packets
requested by disconnected mobile devices.
In a first aspect of the present invention, one or more
computer-readable storage media are provided having
computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when
executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to
perform a method of avoiding unnecessary traffic in a wireless
communications network. The method comprises connecting a first
mobile device having a first Network Access Identifier (NAI) to a
wireless communications network, assigning a first Internet
Protocol (IP) address to the first mobile device, and initiating a
first user session associated with the first IP address. The method
further includes, at an Internet gateway, receiving a request for
at least one data packet from the first mobile device, and
communicating the request for the at least one data packet to a
first server. The method also includes receiving the at least one
data packet from the first server, maintaining an unnecessary
traffic avoidance table at the Internet gateway that includes a
mapping of, at least, the first IP address and an NAI corresponding
to a mobile device that is currently associated with the first IP
address, and determining that the first mobile device is
disconnected from the wireless communications network if the
unnecessary traffic avoidance table indicates, based on the NAI
mapped to the first IP address, that a second mobile device is
currently associated with the first IP address. Additionally, the
method includes, upon determining that the first mobile device is
disconnected from the wireless communications network, discarding
the at least one data packet from the Internet gateway and
terminating the first user session associated with the first IP
address.
In a second aspect, one or more computer-readable storage media is
provided having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon
that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing
device to perform a method of avoiding unnecessary traffic in a
wireless communications network. The method comprises initiating a
first user session for a first mobile device having a first Network
Access Identifier (NAI) and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address,
and at an Internet gateway, receiving at least one data packet from
a first server. The method also includes accessing an unnecessary
traffic avoidance table to determine that the first mobile device
is disconnected from a wireless communications network. The table
includes a current NAI and a previous NAI mapped to the first IP
address. Further, the method includes determining from the
unnecessary traffic avoidance table that the current NAI mapped to
the first IP address is associated with a second mobile device,
based on the determination that the current NAI mapped to the first
IP address is associated with the second mobile device, discarding
the at least one data packet from the Internet gateway, and
terminating the first user session associated with the first IP
address. Additionally, the method includes initiating a second user
session for the second mobile device having a second NAI and the
first IP address, and maintaining the unnecessary traffic avoidance
table.
In a third aspect, a system is provided for avoiding unnecessary
traffic in a wireless communications network. The system comprises
an Internet gateway capable of: communicating with a first mobile
device to receive a request from the first mobile device for one or
more data packets and to send the one or more data packets to the
first mobile device from one or more servers, maintaining an
unnecessary traffic avoidance table that includes a mapping of, at
least, a first NAI corresponding to the first mobile device and a
second NAI corresponding to a second mobile device mapped to a
first IP address, wherein the first NAI is previously associated
with the first IP address and wherein the second NAI is currently
associated with the first IP address, and accessing the unnecessary
traffic avoidance table to determine to discard the one or more
data packets received from the one or more servers prior to sending
the one or more data packets to the first mobile device if the
first IP address is currently associated with the second mobile
device that did not request the one or more data packets received
from the one or more servers. The system also includes at least one
server capable of communicating with the Internet gateway, wherein
communicating comprises sending the one or more data packets to the
Internet Gateway based upon a request for the one or more data
packets by the first mobile device.
Turning now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an illustrative mobile
device is provided and referenced generally by the numeral 100.
Although some components are shown in the singular, they may be
plural. For example, mobile device 100 might include multiple
processors or multiple radios, etc. As illustratively shown, mobile
device 100 includes a bus 110 that directly or indirectly couples
various components together including memory 112, a processor 114,
a presentation component 116, a radio 117, input/output (I/O) ports
118, I/O components 120, and a power supply 122.
Memory 112 might take the form of one or more of the aforementioned
media. Thus, we will not elaborate more here, only to say that
memory component 112 can include any type of medium that is capable
of storing information in a manner readable by a computing device.
Processor 114 might actually be multiple processors that receive
instructions and process them accordingly. Presentation component
116 includes the likes of a display, a speaker, as well as other
components that can present information (such as a lamp (LED), or
even lighted keyboards).
Radio 117 represents a radio that facilitates communication with a
wireless telecommunications network. Illustrative wireless
telecommunications technologies include CDMA, GPRS, TDMA, GSM, and
the like. In some embodiments, radio 117 might also facilitate
other types of wireless communications including Wi-Fi
communications and GIS communications.
Input/output port 118 might take on a variety of forms.
Illustrative input/output ports include a USB jack, stereo jack,
infrared port, proprietary communications ports, and the like.
Input/output components 120 include items such as keyboards,
microphones, touch screens, and any other item usable to directly
or indirectly input data into mobile device 100. Power supply 122
includes items such as batteries, fuel cells, or any other
component that can act as a power source to power mobile device
100.
Turning now to FIG. 2, an illustrative operating environment is
provided and referenced generally by the numeral 200, which depicts
an illustrative networking environment that facilitates the
transmission of data packets through a wireless communications
network. Mobile device 210 is the type of device described in
connection with FIG. 1, in one embodiment. Mobile device 210
communicates with an access component 216 by way of a
communications link 214. Communications link 214 may be a
short-range connection, a long-range connection, or a combination
of both a short-range and a long-range wireless telecommunications
connection. When we refer to "short" and "long" types of
connections, we do not mean to refer to the spatial relation
between two devices. Instead, we are generally referring to short
range and long range as different categories, or types, of
connections (i.e., a primary connection and a secondary
connection). A short-range connection may include a Wi-Fi
connection to a device (e.g., mobile hotspot) that provides access
to a wireless communications network, such as a WLAN connection
using 802.11 protocol. This network is illustrated in FIG. 2 as
item 226. A long-range connection may include a connection using
one or more of CDMA, GPRS, GSM, TDMA, 802.16, LTE, or LTE-Advanced.
Other technologies not mentioned herein are contemplated to be
within the scope of the present invention.
Generally, the access component 216 provides access to what some
skilled artisans refer to as a wireless communications network,
also termed a core network, illustrated in FIG. 2 as network 226. A
wireless communications network may comprise one or more of the
components illustrated in FIG. 2. To the contrary, not all
components that make up a wireless communications network are
shown. Also, not all connections or possible connections are shown.
The access component 216 may be one or more of or may include a
base transceiver station (BTS) tower, a wireless access component,
a mobile hotspot, and any other device that facilitates
communication between mobile device 210 and network 226. In one
embodiment, the access component 216 includes both a Wireless
access component and a BTS tower. In another embodiment, access
component 216 is a BTS tower. In the case of an LTE or LTE-Advanced
network, the BTS is termed eNodeB or NodeB. A radio network
controller (RNC) 218 performs various functions, such as managing
radio channels, power control, load control, admission control,
packet scheduling, handover control, macrodiversity, security
functions, and mobility management. A base station controller (BSC)
220 is also shown in FIG. 2. The BSC acts as the intelligence
behind base transceiver stations (BTS) and handles allocation of
radio channels, receives measurements from mobile devices, and
controls handovers from one BTS to another BTS. As such, the BSC
220 may receive location data from mobile devices that may have
been measured using a global positioning system (GPS), an assisted
GPS (AGPS), or network measurements, such as estimations of a
mobile device's current location based on signal strength, power
levels, etc., from the base stations. For example, data may be
collected from network switches as base stations gather data at the
switch level.
The components illustrated in FIG. 2, such as those that may be
included in a wireless communications network include a
packet-routing component 222 and an Internet gateway component 224.
As mentioned, other components not shown here may also be used to
carry out aspects of the present invention. For instance, a
customer-profile database and an authentication component, such as
an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server may
be included in the wireless network, although not shown in FIG. 2.
Further, several components shown in FIG. 2 may be combined into a
single component although shown separately in FIG. 2. A
packet-routing component 222 may be known to those of ordinary
skill in the art as a packet data serving node (PDSN), typically
used in CDMA networks; a foreign agent (FA); a Local Mobility
Anchor (LMA) used for PMIP functions in the PDSN for IPv6; or a
serving GPRS support node (SGSN), typically used in GSM and UMTS
networks. Additionally, an Access Service Network (ASN) gateway may
be used and is typically used in WiMAX networks.
If the wireless communications network utilizes LTE or
LTE-Advanced, the packet-routing component 222 may be a Serving
Gateway (SGW) and/or a PDN Gateway (P-GW). The SGW is responsible
for routing and forwarding user data packets while acting as the
mobility anchor for the user plane during inter-eNodeB handovers.
The PGW provides connectivity from the mobile device 210 to
external packet data networks by being the point of exit and entry
of traffic for the mobile device 210. The packet-routing component
222 acts as the serving point between the radio access and IP
networks. It is responsible for managing point-to-point protocol
(PPP) sessions between the mobile provider's core IP network 226
and the mobile device 210. At a high level, the packet-routing
component 222 helps provide access to the Internet as well as to
other network technologies and application services. It helps
provide mobile IP (MIP) access, one-agent support, and
transportation of packets to facilitate the tunneling or
communicating of data through virtual private networks. It can act
as a client for an authentication server, which helps ensure that
mobile device 210 is authorized to communicate via the wireless
communications network.
In one embodiment, LTE or LTE-A technology may be used in the
wiresless communications network, such that, as described above,
the access component 216 is a EUTRAN Node B (eNodeB). The BSC 220
is a Mobility Management Entity. Further, in this embodiment, the
packet-routing component 222 is a SGW, the Internet gateway
component 224 is a P-GW, and the authentication component (not
shown) is a Home Subscriber Server (HSS). In one embodiment, the
packet-routing component 222 includes a set of computer-executable
instructions that helps carry out various aspects of technology
described herein. The Internet gateway component 224 is responsible
for allocating IP addresses to mobile devices. The Internet gateway
component 224, in one embodiment, is a home agent (e.g., HA).
Turning now to FIG. 3, an illustrative operating environment that
facilitates the transmission of data packets through a wireless
communications network is provided and referenced generally by the
numeral 300. There are servers 311-313, Internet 320, firewall 330,
Internet gateway 340, access entity 350, and mobile devices 360 and
370. Access entity 350 can be a base transceiver station (BTS)
tower, an eNodeB, a Wireless access component, a Mobile Hotspot, or
any other device that facilitates communication between mobile
devices 360-370 and servers 311-313. In addition, there is also
data packet 361 originating from one of the servers 311-313 and
initially destined for mobile device 360. Data packet 361 as used
herein may be one or more units of formatted data transmitted over
a network. Examples of data packet 361 may include audio files such
as .wav, video files such as .mpeg, picture files such as .jpeg,
web pages such as .html, or word processing documents such as
.doc.
In one embodiment, mobile device 360 may be connected to the
wireless communications network and assigned an IP address 1.1.1.1.
Mobile devices 360 and 370 may be any type of mobile device, such
as the mobile device 100 described hereinabove with reference to
FIG. 1. Mobile device 360 may request data packet 361 (e.g., video
stream) from server 311 thereby initiating a user session. Mobile
device 360 may disconnect from the network due to a variety of
reasons including battery life, roaming, etc. However, the user
session does not terminate. Therefore, data packet 361 continues to
stream from server 311 to Internet gateway 340. The Internet
gateway is a routing device or a bridging device such as HA, PDSN,
Serving Gateway (S-GW), P-GW, or ASN-GW. Mobile device 370 may be
connected to the same network and be assigned the IP address
1.1.1.1 immediately after or at some other time after mobile device
360 is disconnected from the network. Alternatively, no new mobile
device may be assigned the IP address 1.1.1.1. Mobile device 370
provides an end point for the Internet gateway 340 to forward the
data packet 361 to although mobile device 370 did not request data
packet 361. Furthermore, although mobile device 360 is not
receiving data packet 361, its user may still be billed for data
packet 361, as the user or communications session is ongoing. In
order to resolve these problems, the present invention has devised
an unnecessary traffic avoidance table to be maintained at the
Internet gateway 340.
Turning now to FIG. 4, an unnecessary traffic avoidance table is
shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
An Internet gateway, such as Internet gateway 340 shown in FIG. 3,
maintains the unnecessary traffic avoidance table 400. An
embodiment of table 400 includes the fields: current IP address
410, current NAI 420, previous NAI 430, open flow 440, and time
450. The table 400 maintains a record of mobile devices connected
to the network. When a mobile device is first connected to the
network, an IP address is assigned to the mobile device. There may
be a pool of multiple mobile IP addresses that can be assigned to
mobile devices. Each mobile device is also assigned an NAI for
identification in the network. In FIG. 4, a mobile device
associated with the NAI mobile A is assigned IP address 1.1.1.1 and
a second mobile device associated with the NAI mobile B is assigned
IP address 1.1.1.2. Current IP 410 field designates an IP address
that is currently assigned to an active mobile device connected to
the network. Current NAI 420 field designates the NAI of active
mobile devices currently connected to the network. Previous NAI 430
field is populated whenever there is a transfer of IP address from
one mobile device to another. For instance, in FIG. 4, mobile A is
the previous NAI associated with IP address 1.1.1.1 because mobile
A disconnected from the network at some point and IP address
1.1.1.1 was subsequently reassigned to mobile C.
Open flow 440 displays information regarding the data packets sent
to the current NAI. For instance, mobile A received video traffic,
mobile B received sound files, and mobile C received a spreadsheet.
Time 450 displays the time at which the data packets under open
flow 440 were sent or received. For instance, video traffic was
sent to mobile A at 4:49 p.m. Internet gateway uses table 400 to
determine which mobile device has been disconnected and when to
discard data packets. For instance, the Internet gateway will
recognize from the table 400 that mobile A was disconnected from
the network because IP address 1.1.1.1 has been reassigned to
mobile C. Therefore, the previous video traffic requested by mobile
A at around 4:49 p.m. will be discarded and not sent to mobile C.
In addition, mobile A's user session, which started at 4:49 p.m.,
is also terminated at around 4:51 p.m. The result avoids billing
mobile A for data it did not receive, prevents sending and billing
mobile C data packets it did not request, and circumvents
unnecessary traffic in the network. Furthermore, mobile C will not
need to allocate finite battery resource to downloading unnecessary
data. Ultimately, the user experiences for users of both mobiles A
and C will be better. The same result may also occur when IP
1.1.1.1 is not subsequently reassigned to another mobile device
after mobile A has become disconnected. Ordinarily in such a
scenario, the Internet gateway would continue to receive data
packets from a server, but would not have an end point to forward
the data packets. However in embodiments of the current invention,
upon determining that mobile A has been disconnected, the Internet
gateway would discard the data packets and terminate the user
session associated with mobile A and IP 1.1.1.1. The table 400 may
be refreshed at certain times to free up storage space. Refresh may
occur, for exemplary purposes only, after unnecessary data is
discarded or periodically throughout the day.
Turning now to FIG. 5, a flow diagram 500 is shown of a method for
avoiding unwanted data packets, in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention. In step 510, a first mobile device having a
first Network Access Identifier (NAI) is connected to a wireless
communications network. The mobile device may be a type of mobile
device 100 described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 1. The
wireless communications networks may be a type of network 200
described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 2. In step 520, a
first Internet Protocol (IP) address is assigned to the first
mobile device. After connecting to the network, a mobile device may
be assigned to the first available IP address from a pool of IP
addresses. There are many ways of assigning IP addresses to a
mobile device, all of which are not described herein for brevity
purposes. In step 530, a first user session associated with the
first IP address is initiated. Customers of wireless service may be
billed according to the length of a user session or the amount of
data downloaded during a user session.
At step 540, at an Internet gateway, a request is received for at
least one data packet from the first mobile device. At step 550,
the request for the at least one data packet is communicated to a
first server, and at step 560, at least one data packet is received
from the first server. An Internet gateway can be a routing device
or a bridging device such as a home agent (HA), packet data serving
node (PDSN), serving gateway (S-GW), packet data network gateway
(P-GW), and access service network gateway (ASN-GW). At step 570,
an unnecessary traffic avoidance table is maintained at the
Internet gateway that includes a mapping of, at least, the first IP
address and an NAI corresponding to a mobile device that is
currently associated with the first IP address. The unnecessary
traffic avoidance table may also include other data such as an NAI
previously associated with the first IP address; open traffic flow
(e.g., a type of data requested); and open traffic flow time-stamp
mapped to the first IP address, current IP address, and previous IP
address (e.g., time associated with the request of data).
At step 580, at the Internet gateway, it is determined that the
first mobile device is disconnected from the wireless
communications network if the unnecessary traffic avoidance table
indicates, based on the NAI mapped to the first IP address, that a
second mobile device is currently associated with the first IP
address. For instance, the first mobile device may have gotten
disconnected from the wireless communications network due to a
variety of reasons including losing network signal reception,
roaming, and running out of battery. When a mobile device becomes
disconnected from the network, its assigned IP address becomes a
free agent and returns to the pool of IP addresses. The second
mobile device is assigned the next available IP address, which is
also the first IP address. Finally, at step 590, upon determining
that the first mobile device is disconnected from the wireless
communications network, discard the at least one data packet from
the Internet gateway and terminate the first user session
associated with the first IP address. When the first user session
is terminated, the first mobile device will no longer be billed for
any transfer of data thereafter. When the data packet is discarded,
the second mobile device will not receive any data packet it did
not request.
Turning now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram 600 is shown of a method for
avoiding unwanted data packets at an Internet gateway, in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At step
610, a first user session is initiated for a first mobile device
having a first NAI and a first IP address. At step 620, at an
Internet gateway, at least one data packet is received from a first
server and at step 630, an unnecessary traffic avoidance table is
accessed to determine that the first mobile device is disconnected
from a wireless communications network. The table may include a
current NAI and a previous NAI mapped to the first IP address. The
Internet gateway may be a routing device or a bridging device such
as HA, PDSN, S-GW, P-GW, and ASN-GW. The unnecessary traffic
avoidance table may further include data regarding open traffic
flow and open traffic flow time-stamp mapped to the first IP
address, current IP address, and previous IP address. At step 640,
at the Internet gateway, it is determined from the unnecessary
traffic avoidance table that the current NAI mapped to the first IP
address is associated with a second mobile device. This is
indicative that the first mobile device has disconnected from the
network and that the first IP address has been reassigned to the
second mobile device.
At step 650, based on the determination that the current NAI mapped
to the first IP address is associated with the second mobile
device, the at least one data packet is discarded from the Internet
gateway. Discarding the data packet will prevent it from reaching
the second mobile device, which did not request and probably does
not want the data packet. At step 660, the first user session
associated with the first IP address is terminated. Terminating the
user session will prevent incorrect billing for the first and
second mobile devices. At step 670, a second user session is
initiated for the second mobile device having a second NAI and the
first IP address. A second user session is associated with a new
billing cycle and the data sent during the second user session is
only received by the second mobile device. In addition, no data in
the second user session will be discarded unless the second mobile
device becomes disconnected. Finally at step 680, the unnecessary
traffic avoidance table is maintained. The Internet gateway may
refresh, modify, or erase the data in the unnecessary traffic
avoidance table according to predetermined protocols.
Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as
well as components not shown, are possible without departing from
the scope of the claims below. Embodiments of our technology have
been described with the intent to be illustrative rather than
restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to
readers of this disclosure after and because of reading it.
Alternative means of implementing the aforementioned can be
completed without departing from the scope of the claims below.
Certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be
employed without reference to other features and subcombinations
and are contemplated within the scope of the claims.
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